A blend of tradition and style

14:42, January 04, 2013

A man plays with his grandson at Dongsi Station on Line 6 on Sunday. (Xinhua/Li Wen)

If you ever regarded Beijing's subway system as just a humdrum expressway with all its stations largely identical except for their nameplates, think again.

The subway's new Line 6, which started operating on Dec 30, will provide passengers with a brand new experience as well greatly easing the ever-growing traffic on the system as a whole.

Commuters are being promised they will instantly appreciate the look of the new line's stops.

"In each station we have tried to reproduce the images and impressions from 30 meters above them," said Zhang Yang, design director of Shenzhen Guangtian Decoration Group Co Ltd, explaining that the cultural characteristics of the parts of the city the line passes under have influenced how each station has been designed.

"Most of the artistic designs refer to the landscape right above a particular station, so commuters will be able to figure exactly where they are."

Line 6 passes through various parts of the city, presenting very different styles, from prosperous metropolitan areas to historic sites, to the central business district.

"Most of the stations at the eastern end of Line 6 are decorated in azulejo - a form of Portuguese painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework - and other colored bricks that form into designs showing blue waves, flowers and pink petals, creating a vibrant, youthful flair," said Zhang.